Category Archives: Chick lit
Highland Soldiers 1: The Enemy – J.L. Jarvis
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. This isn’t to say I went into it with the intention of dissecting it like I seem to do so often to romances; I went into it like I … Continue reading
Stone Devil Duke – K.J. Jackson
I made it just halfway through this. I have no idea what all those five-star reviewers were reading; not this. It can’t have been this. You can’t really blame me for the length of this review; about half of it … Continue reading
He Taught Me To Hope – P.O. Dixon, Pearl Hewitt
Jane Austen continuations or reimaginings are always problematical. Just like fan-fiction in general, or unheralded self-published books, or Star Trek novels, there is now and then a gem which makes the hunt somewhat worthwhile. Not too often, however. He Taught … Continue reading
Unlaced: Kristina Cook
“Unlaced” was another in a string of failures to find something I once took for granted: a fun, satisfying, well-crafted book. I truly thought at several points that it would be a DNF, but I had made predictions about what … Continue reading
Austenland – Shannon Hale
I might have given this another star if I had rated it sooner, after finishing it but before a night’s sleep. It was cute (charming, even), and nicely written (except for a few typos, like “snuggly” for “snugly”). I liked … Continue reading
His Good Opinion – Nancy Kelley
His Good Opinion is, in brief, Pride and Prejudice from Darcy’s point of view. What exactly did he say to Bingley to keep him away from Netherfield? What was he thinking when he made that bone-headed first proposal to Elizabeth? … Continue reading
Georgiana Darcy’s Diary – Anna Elliott
Let me start off by listing the strikes against this book. It’s apparently self-published (not, of course, an automatic guarantee of Bad, but it is a truth universally acknowledged that self-pubs are more prone to editorial quality issues). Its author’s … Continue reading
Mapp and Lucia – E.F. Benson
I always liked the Britcom “Keeping Up Appearances”. But it is distracting to wonder so often why no one has ever murdered Hyacinth Bucket (“It’s boo-KAY!”). She’s amusing, but mostly because she is surrounded by family and … friends who … Continue reading
The Affairs of Harriet Walters, Spinster – C.M. Spencer
I received Harriet Walters through LibraryThing’s Member Giveaways in exchange for an honest review – thank you. I do hate giving these books low ratings; I always want to support self-published authors. I always root for the underdog. But I … Continue reading
A challenging 2013, part 2
The third challenge I signed up for for 2013 (the other two being mentioned in the previous post) is the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge, sponsored by the austenprose blog: “If you have not read Jane Austen’s masterpiece (or would … Continue reading